


Airborne

by cosimascully



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-23
Updated: 2015-03-23
Packaged: 2018-03-18 16:34:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3576303
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cosimascully/pseuds/cosimascully
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clara and Jenny travel by airplane for the first time, together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Airborne

Jenny bounces eagerly up and down in her seat, grinning excitedly at Clara. “I can’t believe we’re about to do this!” She bites her lip and looks around the room for perhaps the fifteenth time in as many minutes. Clara tries her best not to grin as widely as her, but fails miserably—Jenny’s enthusiasm spreads like wildfire.

“And _I_ can’t believe you’ve not been on a plane before. With all the adventures you’ve had, in your…” She looks around the aircraft as well, but her eyes search for eavesdroppers—rather than the small cramped chairs and unremarkable people and luggage of Flight 7984 that Jenny had been looking at. “In your spaceship,” she finishes. She hesitates “Aren’t planes rather… boring in comparison?”

Jenny shakes her head vigorously. “Nope!” she says, not bothering to lower her voice. “I’ve always wanted to know what it would feel like to take off and to land in one of your aeroplanes… Must be different than my ship, you know?” She grabs Clara’s hand and squeezes it.

A jolt goes through Clara’s stomach at the sudden contact, and she bites her lip. A surge of heat spreads through her body, all the way down to the tips of her fingers, but Jenny doesn’t seem to have noticed. She glances at her friend, who’s now talking about a rough landing that she experienced in her ship a few years ago, before she met Clara, how she hopes this flight will be nothing like that.

“—Although, if we have to evacuate the plane for any reason, I wouldn’t be too scared. I’ve had to parachute before. D’you think we’ll have to parachute?”

“What? Oh. No, I doubt it. Flying is the safest way to travel.”

“Oh...” Jenny almost sounds disappointed, but then she’s grinning again. “Clara, what’re these for?” She pulls one of the magazines out of the front pocket, as well as a paper bag. Clara laughs.

“That is for if you’re feeling sick.” She points at the bag. “And the magazine’s for advertisement. And entertainment, I s’pose, if you get bored.”

Jenny tilts her head to the side. “I can’t imagine being bored on aeroplane. And I can’t wait till we take off. When do you think that’ll b—?”

A voice over the intercom interrupts Jenny, announcing the schematics of the flight—how long it will take to travel from one side of the country to the other, the weather conditions, safety tips should anything go wrong. Jenny listens attentively to the entire speech, going still for the first time all day.

Despite never having been on a plane herself, Clara can’t concentrate on the intercom voice. She finds herself glancing at Jenny more often than not, marveling that they managed to get on the aircraft at all. With no identification and two hearts, Jenny isn’t the average passenger.

They’d only managed to arrange this trip after extensive planning, forged doctors’ notes about a “medical condition” excluding her from the traditional x-ray, and a little help from a piece of psychic paper that Jenny had obtained somewhere. A small burst of happiness explodes in her chest— _finally_. She can’t believe this is finally happening.

“Clara, you haven’t buckled up yet.” Jenny nudges her gently in the side.

Clara starts herself out of her reverie, noticing for the first time that the voice over the intercom has stopped. She looks down at her lap, then at Jenny’s, noting how securely she had fastened her seatbelt over her waist.

“Let me help you,” she offers, reaching over the armrest to grab at the straps. “I watched the demonstration, it’s not hard.” She pushes the metal tongue into the slot, then pulls the cloth tight over Clara’s hips. She can’t help sucking in her breath just slightly as Jenny’s fingers brush the fabric of her dress.

“There!”

“Thanks.” Clara tucks her hair behind her ear and smiles at Jenny, who beams back.

“Happy to be of service!” she chirps.

The plane begins moving forward and Jenny turns to stare raptly out of the window as they start to pick up speed on the runway. Clara peers over Jenny’s shoulder and grips her hand tighter, eyes almost as wide her friend’s. Pressure builds up in her stomach, growing and growing as the plane speeds up, as does the noise in her ears. She swallows hard and then—they’re very suddenly in the air.

“Oh my stars,” Clara mutters. Jenny makes a noise that sounds like a squeal, grinning bright enough to light up a room.

“Look, everything’s getting smaller!” Jenny says. She points out the window at the quickly disappearing airport, the miniature trees, the tiny houses. “I’ve never been able to see this as just a passenger before.”

“It looks like one of those model train sets,” Clara says. “One of those fancy ones, with all the little people and towns and forests—my uncle used to make them, when I was little.”

“I’ve never seen one of those,” Jenny says thoughtfully. “You should show me someday. Are they real trains?”

Clara smiles. “Sort of. They’re like toys, only they look real and run off of electricity and batteries and stuff.”

“That’s so fascinating!” She tilts her head to the side and stares ahead. “You _definitely_ need to show me one soon.”

Clara laughs “Alright, I _definitely_ wi—” She freezes, as she catches sight at something over Jenny’s shoulder.

“What?”

“Are we… Are we _inside_ of a cloud, right now?”

Jenny whips around to look out the window again and Clara pushes the armrest between them upwards, allowing her to scoot closer. Whiteness envelopes the plane, the same color and texture throughout, but Clara can’t stop staring. As a kid, she’d often imagined of living in the clouds—seeing one up close fills her with the same sense of child-like wonder she experienced while daydreaming about it then.

“Oh my god, this is so incredible!” Clara leans in closer, her chin brushing Jenny’s shoulder as she stares out the window. “Have you ever been in a cloud, Jenny?”

“Yeah, I have!” Jenny turns to look at Clara—and quite suddenly, their faces are only a few inches away from each other. Clara takes a deep breath, willing herself to stay still, to not lean forward to close that distance...

“The first time was at the beginning of my travels. During my take off from Messaline, a few years ago.”

Clara nods, forcing herself to focus. She squeezes Jenny’s hand. “Tell me about it?” She loves hearing her friend’s stories—even with short anecdotes, Jenny’s sense of self completely changes when she talks about her adventures. Plus, she could use a distraction right about now.

Jenny straightens, eyes going bright. “Well… it was my first time flying a ship. I had a little difficulty with the turns, so I decided to not leave the atmosphere till I’d gotten the hang of flying.” She pauses, tilting her head to the side. “I’d never seen a cloud before, but a few had formed since the Source had broken open—I told you about the Source, right?”

Clara nods.

“I thought they were solid, so I tried to avoid them, but then I suddenly _had_ to break through one—it got in the way.” Jenny grins. “Everything was foggy and dark but then… I was suddenly above it all and the light of the stars and the moons was sparkling and bright and reflecting off the cloud, and I couldn’t stop laughing.” Her voice goes soft. “It was beautiful.”

“That sounds amazing,” Clara whispers. She manages to tear her gaze away from Jenny’s face and looks out the window again. The plane, still ascending, breaks through the fog and they can see the blue of the sky above them and the white cloud below. Almost like Jenny’s story.

“I’m so glad we got to do this,” Clara says quietly. “I know that it’s been hard, arranging this, especially with your, um, biology, but—this is perfect.”

A quiet sense of longing settles in Clara’s stomach. She glances at Jenny, who gives her a smile. “It _is_ perfect.” She squeezes Clara’s hand again. “I’ve missed traveling _so_ much,” she murmurs, almost as an afterthought.

Clara blinks and the yearning lurking in her stomach turns to a sharp, nervous energy. If asked half an hour earlier, she would have been able to tell anyone that Jenny missed traveling. The way she talked of her adventures, or described the beauty of the universe—it was clear where Jenny’s hearts lay. Clara doesn’t doubt that half the reason Jenny had agreed to accompany her on her spring holiday was that she longed to be on the road again.

Knowing all these facts—Clara can handle that. But to hear the all to the hunger, the _ache_ in Jenny’s voice? Clara swallows, trying to push the thoughts out of her head, but they’re unavoidable. Someday, all too soon by the sound of her best friend’s voice, Jenny would get bored of the quiet life Clara led—she’d get into her ship and go back to the stars.

Clara picks at a hangnail on her right thumb with her teeth, trying to distract herself before Jenny notices anything’s wrong. She has an uncanny ability of reading Clara’s emotions—sometimes she wonders if that was some sort of alien power of hers. She couldn’t have Jenny knowing how much she didn’t want her to leave—her feelings for her best friend would be rather obvious if they got on that topic.

And as much as she wants more with Jenny, Clara doesn’t think she could handle rejection—or even acceptance—knowing that they’d eventually be… _separated_.

But for once, Jenny seems oblivious. “Clara, don’t you think it feels _amazing_ to be out in the air? To be traveling like this?” She grabs Clara’s arm with her other hand. “I bet you can’t even _imagine_ what it’s like to be amongst the _stars_. It’s like this, only a thousand times more.”

“Is it?” She swallows down the note of bitterness threatening to creep into her voice.

“ _Yes_ ,” she says emphatically. She’s babbling now, like she does when excitement overtakes her. “I can’t wait till we get to feel that together.”

The air between them suddenly goes stiff. _We_. Jenny’s grin slides from her face.

She doesn’t say anything, Clara can’t find any words—both seem to be frozen in the same position, not breathing, not looking at each other. A minute passes.

Then another.

“Wha—what did you say?” Clara finally breaks the silence.

Jenny swallows. Her voice is a little shaky. “That I can’t wait to be traveling again. Amongst the stars, you know?”

“No. No, I meant, the other—you, you said _we_.” She stops, trying to slow her heart down. Maybe she misheard. There’s no way—“Did you say _we_?”

Jenny bites her lip. Then she nods slowly.

Clara shakes her head, disbelief running through her body. “No,” she says again. “No, that can’t be right, you can’t have meant that you want _us_ —” She cuts herself off again, closing her eyes. She needs to start over. “Jenny, you’ve told me— so many stories about your travels. You’ve seen so many things and you, you’re always wanting to see more!”

“Yeah,” Jenny says. “But—”

“And, and you’ve got the entire universe at your fingertips!” She runs a hand through her hair, raking it out of her eyes. “You could leave whenever you want. You’re _going_ to, eventually!”

Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Jenny opening her mouth to speak, but plows forward hurriedly. “I, I don’t have your life! I’ve only moved twice in my life and I’ve never even left the country.”

“What are you saying?” A trace of worry appears in Jenny’s voice.

“I’m saying, you can’t want me to come with you! All I’ve got are stupid toy trains and stuffy airplanes and a one week holiday across the country. I’m not very interesting. You couldn’t possibly want me to come along—”

A small sound, almost like a laugh, comes out of Jenny’s mouth. Clara’s head jerks up and she stares at her—she looks amazed. Incredulous. “Clara, that’s ridiculous!”

“What?” Clara blinks.

“If I _did_ ask…” She pauses. “Would you say yes?”

“Of course I would,” Clara says hurriedly. “But you, you couldn’t be possibly asking m—”

Jenny cups the back of Clara’s neck, and pulls her forward, stopping her words by pressing her lips to hers. Clara’s eyes go wide before they shut completely, before she melts against Jenny. Before she reaches up to tangle her fingers in Jenny’s blonde hair.

Jenny kisses Clara with an eagerness that’s characteristic of her, so much so that Clara forgets what they were just talking about. The fact that they’re in the middle of a very important conversation fades to the back of her mind, as she focuses all of her attention on Jenny’s mouth on hers, on her hands that are on her waist and back, on the giddy feeling that’s spreading through her body.

Jenny pulls back a moment later, giggling softly. Her grin is back, wide and bright. “Oh, I was so scared you were going to say you didn’t want to come with me.”

“Is that why you… kissed me?”

“Yes. No.” She huffs. “Sort of.”

Clara laughs.

Jenny laughs too, before going quiet. “Clara. I love your toy trains and stuffy airplanes and one week holidays. I _love_ Earth. I love—” She stops, biting her lip. “I haven’t been staying here because I’m waiting for a ship part or because I want to see more sights before I leave… I’ve been staying here because of you.”

Clara wants to lean forward and kiss her again, very suddenly. She takes a deep breath and doesn’t let it out—she focuses on how it feels inside of her, like a balloon expanding in her chest.

“And whether I leave in weeks or months or even years, I couldn’t imagine going anywhere without you.”

Clara lets out the air she’d been holding in. “Really?”

Jenny nods.

“I’ve been worried, for months,” she confesses. “I didn’t want to think about you leaving me.”

“I won’t,” Jenny says. “I promise.” She takes Clara’s hand in hers, squeezing it once. Clara looks up at her, studying her face intently. Jenny’s eyes are bright and they don’t leave hers, not for a second.

“You know…” Clara leans her forehead against Jenny’s, just barely brushing it. “You haven’t actually asked me. Not officially.”

“I can fix that now.” Jenny’s thumb traces a pattern over the back of Clara’s hand. “Clara Oswald. Would you like to travel with me? To the stars?”

She can’t keep back her laugh. “ _Yes_. Yes, I would love that, Jenny.”

**Author's Note:**

> My brother informed me, after I wrote this, that he doesn't think that airport x-rays see through your body, so theoretically Jenny could have gone through one and no one would have been the wiser about her two hearts. But I kinda liked that detail, and I could picture them being a little nervous and taking a few extra precautions, so. I decided to leave it in :)


End file.
